


Purposeful Accident

by glitterfox19



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Don't Worry About It, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, POV Scorpius Malfoy, Roommates, hold ur horses kiddos, like 1 second of angst, lily is a Good Person, or is it...... fake, you'll find out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-03 22:45:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17292827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterfox19/pseuds/glitterfox19
Summary: Can you have a Freudian slip, but with an action instead of a word? -From the diary of Scorpius Malfoy, probably.





	1. One

“Good work today, Healer Malfoy. We’ll see you tomorrow for an evening shift.” 

Scorpius smiled beatifically, though even that movement felt as though it took endless amounts of energy. “Thank you, Healer Creed.” He almost sagged with the effort. “Is the schedule posted?”

“Same place as it always is,” Creed intoned gruffly. Scorpius nodded, taking care not to roll his eyes or scoff, and turned to exit down the hallway. He walked with his eyes closed; keeping them open felt like too much work. 

Thankfully, no one was in the hallway at this hour. It was past three in the morning. The nurses were absent, most likely congregating in their breakroom, and no patient had hit their bell to signify that they needed something. Thankfully.

As he approached the end of the hallway, Scorpius blinked, desperately trying to keep his eyes open in the overly-saturated hallway. The paper he was searching for swam into focus. It took him a moment to decipher the letters, and when he did, he nearly collapsed.

Norwood - 9 AM-5 PM.  
Malfoy - 6 PM-9 AM.  
Montgomery - 12 PM-8 PM.

Another fifteen hour shift. Two days in a row! He practically had… He paused to count on his fingers. Sixteen hours to relax before another fifteen hour shift! That was ridiculous. No other new Healer had such ridiculous hours.

Sure, he grumbled to himself, when they had exited the Healer training program and became residents, the teachers informed the students that they would typically take odd hours and longer shifts to “gain experience.” Scorpius snorted. Gain experience, his arse. More like do the menial tasks older Healers hated and let them take all the credit. 

But no other Healer from his program had worked even a twelve-hour shift, nevermind fifteen! Not even those working in the Emergency wing endured the grueling schedule that he had! Of course, Scorpius knew exactly why they were assigning him the worst hours. He kicked the ground as he walked to the assigned Apparition point, and then immediately felt like a child. 

The reasonable voice in his head, which sounded a lot like a combination of his dad and Al, weirdly enough, reminded him: _No use moaning about things you can’t change at the moment._

Finally, when he stumbled into the room, he had to pause for a long time before he could picture his and Al’s shared apartment. He raised his eyes skyward and pictured it as best he could, but his focus was swimming.

Scorpius screwed his eyes shut and forced himself to Apparate, picturing the vague outline of his lawn in his mind’s eye. Woozy, he sat down on a stoop the moment he arrived. And then furrowed his brow. Where were the hedges? “Oh, shoot,” he mumbled to himself. He was sitting on Rose Granger-Weasley’s stoop. Not his own.

“Sorry, Rosie,” he said. “Hope I didn’t wake you up.” This time, when he Apparated, he made sure to hold onto his focus. He landed in the hedges outside of his home, but he made it there, and that was the only thing that mattered. Honestly, it was probably ill-advised to Apparate after working for fifteen hours, anyway. It was a miracle he got home in one piece.

He extracted himself from the bushes and trudged up the stairs, picking leaves and twigs out of his Healer robes. On days like today, he wished that he and Al could remove the anti-Apparition wards surrounding their house so he could Apparate into his bedroom. 

Scorpius briefly imagined a reporter from the Prophet or another gossipy newspaper getting a picture of him stuck in the bushes and splashing it across the headlines. MALFOY HEIR CAN’T APPARATE! He shivered and immediately took back his wish.

“ _Accio_ keys,” he whispered. There was no tell-tale rattling coming from his bag. He flicked his wand again, a little more panicked now. “ _Accio_ keys.” There was the sound of shattered class, and his keys came zooming from his window.

He took a deep breath, reminded himself to repair that window the next morning, plucked his keys from the air, and unlocked the door. Scorpius shrugged off his outer robe halfway into the hallway and left it lying on the steps. He could deal with that tomorrow morning. There were more important things on his mind now, like sleeping immediately. 

On the way to his room, he stopped twice on the stairs to rest and recuperate. It was a little after three-thirty in the morning, and he was crashing badly. Finally, he stumbled through the doorway of his room and collapsed on the bed. The mattress felt odd, he noted. Lumpy. Maybe he needed a new one. Merlin’s sake, he deserved one at this point. 

“Fucking ow! GET OUT, INTRUDER!” The next thing he knows, Scorpius was in a full-body bind, hanging from the ceiling. Al, half-awake, pointed his wand at him threateningly. “STATE YOUR NAME OR I’LL FUCK YOU UP!”

“Scorpius Malfoy. Idiot.” The words leaked with affection. Al tilted his head to the side. Scorpius could practically feel him raising his eyebrows.

“ _Lumos maxima._ ” Scorpius squeezed his eyes shut; the brightness hurt his eyes. “Er, Scorpius? That’s really you?” 

“Obviously, you dolt. Who else would break into your house at this hour?”

“I feel like there’s some crazy people who would go to some extremes,” Al muttered. Still, he blushed bright red and released him from his binds, causing Scorpius to fall right back onto the bed with a sound of discontent.

“Sorry, mate. I thought… you haven’t mixed up our rooms in awhile.” Al yawned, and his whole face moved with the motion. “Rough day?” He leaned his head on Scorpius’ shoulder. Scorpius patted his hair awkwardly.

“Tell you about it tomorrow.” Scorpius stood up and began shuffling back to his own room. Al made a whiny sound in Scorpius’ direction. He held up his hands and made grabby motions at Scorpius. Scorpius paused in the doorway and gave Al a cheery wave. He did not want to think about the implications of whatever that gesture was. Al was probably exhausted and out of it. It didn’t mean anything. “Night.”

“Night, Scorp.” He closed the door gently before racing to his own room this time. He didn’t even bother to brush his teeth or change; he simply laid flat on his bed, pulled off his shoes, and put his head on the pillow.

The next morning, he was awoken at six by a very cross shout. Scorpius sat straight up in bed and rubbed at his eyes. “All right? Al?”

“You left your fucking coat on the steps again!” Scorpius shrunk down in his bed, even though Al couldn’t see him. "And did you break this window?" He pulled his covers over his body, feeling his face turn hot. 

“Sorry!”

“S’alright,” Al called back. “I hung it up for you and I repaired the damage. I’ll be home at 4 today, all right?” Al consulted for the Ministry on potioneering work and worked part-time at an apothecary. Outside of that, he cooked meals for the two of them to take to work and to enjoy at home on the rare nights Scorpius wasn’t working strange shifts. Honestly, Scorpius had no idea how he got so lucky. Al’s meals were always insanely good. 

“All right! See you then!” The door slammed shut, and Scorpius fell asleep immediately once more.

The next time he woke up, it was at three in the afternoon precisely. He stretched and hopped out of bed for a long, warm shower. The tension that had been building in his shoulders evaporated alongside the steam. Scorpius hummed to himself and even caught himself smiling a few times. The world always seemed a bit brighter after sleeping for twelve hours. 

He pulled on pyjamas to eat a ridiculously late breakfast. Scorpius had to flip his eggs by hand, though, not with magic. The last time he had tried, he ended up with yolk on the ceiling and Al nearly pissing himself laughing. So he used a spatula and sang little songs to himself to keep himself on task.

After his meal, during which he only spilled a tiny amount of jam on his Puddlemere United pyjama pants, he washed up once more and changed into his Healing robes. Right as he finished dressing, the doorbell rang. 

Scorpius grinned and raced down the steps to wait in the hall. Al opened the front door not a moment later. He had his own set of keys, but he liked to ring the doorbell to let Scorpius know he was home. “Hey, Scorp. How was sleeping in?” Scorpius held out his arms. Al rolled his eyes but good-naturedly hugged his friend anyway. “I thought we were too old for this.”

“Never!” Al secretly loved hugs; Scorpius knew this. Scorpius also knew that Al would never admit to anyone else how much he loved hugs, not even Scorpius. “How was work?”

“S’alright. Nothing big happened. We didn’t get any major breakthroughs in the case, but I found this new ingredient that seems to be cropping up more frequently in potions using Erumpent horn. Apparently it magnifies the explosive effects to make a dud-potion that explodes once past the esophagus. Fucked up, isn’t it?”

Scorpius nodded his agreement. Al slug an arm around his shoulder and steered them both into the living room. “I’m gonna put the kettle on. You hungry?”

“No, I ate breakfast right before you came,” Scorpius admitted.

“All right. I’m gonna heat up some pasta. Let me know if you want any.” Ten minutes later, Al returned with two mugs of tea and a plate of pasta hovering behind him. He scarfed his food down and turned towards Scorpius, absently flicking his wand to turn the telly on. “So. How was yesterday?”

“Awful, Al!” Scorpius exclaimed. “They’ve put me down for a second fifteen-hour shift! No one else is working more than eight. It’s absolutely ridiculous!”

Al fumed for a moment, gesturing wildly into the air as he searched for words. “That’s a load of bollocks and they know it. They can’t give you the short end of the stick- what, because the war happened? The war that you didn’t even fight in? The war finished nearly three decades ago!” Scorpius put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. Al turned bright red again and elbowed his tea violently, causing his mug to tip. Scorpius corrected it before any liquid could hit the ground.

“I appreciate it, Al. But don’t get all fired up on my behalf. There’s not much I can do about it.”

“Tell your dad about it. He’d certainly take a crack at the Ministry for you. Hell, he’d introduce a bill called the Protect Scorpius Malfoy Act if you asked him to.” Scorpius looked down at his hands. 

“That’s precisely why I don’t want to ask him. I can… I can fight my own battles, can’t I?” Al grabbed Scorpius’ hand. 

“Of course you can! I’m just saying… It’s easier when you have a bunch of people on your side, too. You don’t have to be all alone.” Al looked down at their clasped hands and quickly disentangled himself. “Uh, yeah.”

“Thanks, Al.”

They finished their meals, chatting about Al’s day at work and moving on to how funny Lily could be and then talking about potentially getting another owl, so that Cow (creatively named by Ruby, Teddy and Vic’s daughter, and then Scorpius had grown too attached to the name) would have some company.

They ended up sitting in front of the television and flicking through the reality shows, settling on a show about wedding planning. It was American, so it was incredibly overdone with drama. It was ridiculous. Scorpius loved it.

“Scorp, can’t we change the channel?” Al complained, but he was the one holding the remote. If he really wanted a different show, he would change it himself. Al loved watching these types of shows. He lived for the weirdness of it all. “Oh my God, I can’t believe they’re letting him choose burgundy.”

“I know, right? Burgundy velvet? Ew.” Something sad started to slosh around in Scorpius’ stomach. He wanted to get married one day. Preferably, he’d like to get married to Al, but that wasn’t a real possibility.

Al was gay, sure, but there was no way he could like Scorpius. They were best friends. They always had been. Al hadn’t dated anyone in awhile, but that meant he was probably looking for someone else. It wasn’t realistic, that they’d end up together. No matter how bad Scorpius wanted it.

“At my wedding, I want a chocolate cake,” Al declared, only to cause a scandal in the Potter-Malfoy household. Scorpius threw a tacky throw pillow at him that Lily bought for the two as a joke. It had sequins on it. It had to be a joke, at least. He refused to be friends with Lily if she seriously bought them a sequined pillow thinking that they’d like it.

They were silent for a moment, Al giggling at Scorpius’ expression. Scorpius softly said, “I want an ice cream cake at mine.”

"No!" Al shrieked at full volume and chucked the pillow back at Scorpius. Scorpius removed a couch cushion and began bashing Al over the head with it. It seemed that they were never too old for pillow fights, not even when they were twenty. 

Eventually, Al seized Scorpius by the wrists and pinned him to the couch. There was a feather in his hair and a mad glint in his eye. “I’ve won!” he crowed. Scorpius tried to laugh, but it was getting stuck in his throat. 

“Yeah, you did. Lucky you.” Scorpius tried not to enjoy the situation too much.

“Lucky me.” Al looked Scorpius up and down and laughed. Scorpius quirked his brow. Was Al laughing nervously? What for? They got into little tiffs all the time. He wriggled about; Al’s grip was a touch too tight for him to gain any traction, though. What a shame. He wanted to take Al by surprise and flip him over. It seemed that Al had become too strong for Scorpius to manage that, though.

They stayed there, Al over Scorpius, their bodies aligned. Scorpius swallowed thickly. He couldn’t be imagining this. Could he? Was there something more between him and Al? He thought he was crazy for having a crush all these years, but maybe… 

“Lucky me,” Al repeated, very softly. Almost imperceptibly, he moved closer to Scorpius, whose mouth was agape. Rather unattractively, Scorpius thought. He shut it and tried to remember how these sorts of things worked. He hadn’t dated in Hogwarts, and while he’d had boyfriends and girlfriends after his time there, they never worked out. Merlin knows why. Probably because they weren’t the younger son of the Chosen One. Not that Harry had anything to do with his attraction to Al. Oh, bollocks. Scorpius managed to sound stupid even in his own head. 

Scorpius’ watch chimed, signaling that he had to leave for work now, or else he’d be late. He almost groaned aloud, but then worried that Al would misinterpret that. Al released him immediately and returned to the far end of the couch. Scorpius couldn’t read his expression.

“Ugh, I have to go to work now. This sucks.” Al nodded and stood up when Scorpius moved to leave. They walked in silence to the front door. Scorpius felt itchy. They were never this quiet. Maybe they should talk about what just happened? Clear the air, or whatever? Al was fidgeting like nobody’s business. Scorpius decided to leave it up to him. If he did something, then whatever the hell that pillow fight was meant something. And if Al didn’t do anything, then Scorpius should cut his losses and move on. Slash cry and watch television in the wee hours of the morning so Al wouldn’t see him being embarrassing and heartbroken. 

On the stoop, Scorpius turned to his friend. “I’ll be back really late tonight again, don’t bother staying up. I’ll try not to wake you up this time! Love you, bye!” Scorpius turned pink. He was supposed to wait for Al to do something, but apparently his brain had other ideas. Oh, to hell with it all. He took a step forward towards the edge of the wards. 

The moment they crossed the line separating their house from where they could Apparate, Al’s hand caught his sleeve. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Al asked, flushing but grinning. His lips were pouting out slightly. Scorpius blanched. Was Al asking what he thought he was asking? 

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. Merlin knows he did. But he always had Al by his side, and that felt like enough. Scorpius had grown to accept that Al would be his friend, his best friend, and nothing more. But now? Maybe his slip of the tongue had prompted something bigger. 

Scorpius leaned forward and kissed Al’s cheek. That was safe, wasn’t it? If someone was asking for a kiss? Al was blushing something fierce now. He cleared his throat. “Er, thanks Scorp, but… I meant these.” He held out Scorpius’ house keys. 

Scorpius squeaked, grabbed them from Al’s hands, and Disapparated without saying goodbye. 

He ended up on his hands and knees in the Apparition point back at St. Mungo’s. Healer Creed stood in the doorway, putting his coat on. He fixed Scorpius with an odd look. “All right, Healer Malfoy!”

“Yes! Sir!” Scorpius said, standing to attention. His hand started to go up to his forehead, but he stopped himself before he could do a full-fledged salute, which resulted in his arm doing a funny, aborted motion at his side. Creed’s expression turned into that of pure confusion and slight judgment. Typical.

“Well. Healer Ascot will be your attending Healer this evening. I expect to see good results.” With that, the older Healer walked up to the Apparition point and promptly Disapparated. Scorpius, mortified beyond belief, rushed to shove his overcoat and keys into his cubby before running back out to the the Healer headquarters. 

Panting slightly upon arrival, Scorpius attempted to surreptitiously lean against the wall but misjudged the distance and ended up crashing to the ground. He stood up again immediately, stiff as a board, and tried to ignore everyone’s eyes that were glued to him.

“Alright, everyone. Now that everyone’s here…” she said pointedly, looking in Scorpius’ direction, “I’m ready to give out rotation. Healer Adams and Healer Brown - you will be reporting to the nurses station today.” Scorpius grimaced. Working with the nurses always meant the grossest and most boring tasks. 

Scorpius drifted off part way through the monologue - was Al mad at him? Was it forward? Merlin, it was so embarrassing that he misread the cues - that when Ascot called his name, he jerked to attention so violently that he hit his head against the wall. “Healer Malfoy,” she repeated, “you’ll be reporting to me. We’re visiting Spell Damage today.” 

“Ma’am?” he said. His voice cracked after the first syllable. Scorpius started to sweat under her gaze. “Er, sorry. But I’m doing my training in…” He tugged at his collar when Ascot fixed him with a cool look. She raised an eyebrow before turning on her heel. 

“Very well then.” She cast an incantation and her hair tied itself into a neat, curly bun. She strode purposefully towards restricted area doors. They flew open for her. Scorpius trailed behind, tapping a beat onto his thigh with his fingers.

Something told him this was going to be a longer shift than usual.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg! I was not expecting the extensive positive response from the first chapter. I hope you enjoy this update just as much!

“Scorpius!” Scorpius lifted his head up with some effort from the cafeteria table. Who was yelling his name? At two in the morning, no less? He hoped that it wasn’t another patient. The Spell Damage patients were a literal nightmare to deal with. But patients wouldn’t address him by his first name, at least. Hopefully they wouldn’t. 

Scorpius was stressed out of his mind. Spell Damage was far, far more complicated than he anticipated. Obviously he had done some reading before and had reviewed his notes from his initial training, but regardless, the ward was daunting. Almost all of the treatment plans involved with Spell Damage involved complicated reversal charms. If his finger even twitched minutely by accident, it would cancel the entire spell. Or worse, make someone burp bubbles. There were definitely worse alternatives still, but Scorpius didn’t want to think about those. Thankfully, nothing had gone wrong… yet. 

To his great relief, Lily Potter was the one shouting like a maniac for him. She slid into the chair next to him clutching at a muffin, dressed in the same ugly lime-green robes that he wore. Her badge flashed the word “TRAINEE” in gold, sparkly letters. Scorpius frowned. He was fairly sure that his badge wasn’t able to sparkle. He double-checked, just to make sure. “How’s it going?”

He groaned in response and let his head thunk back down on the table. Lily poked at his side and chuckled. “Alright, that’s to be expected of an overnight shift. First one? This is my third. I don’t mind them too much, actually.”

“Fifteenth, but thanks.” He looked up to catch her horrified glance. Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but it certainly felt like he’d suffered through that many. He waved her off. “Okay, it’s more like the tenth. Don’t fret about it. There’s nothing you can do; I’ve tried everything.”

“Why would they…” She trailed off when she saw the look in Scorpius’ eyes. “Oh. That’s-”

“Unfair, I know that, your brother already gave me that speech.” Lily’s entire face brightened at the mention of her brother. “Oh, come off it! Why do you look like the Kneazle that's caught the canary?”

“How are things going with Albus?” Scorpius rolled his eyes and pretended he didn’t know what Lily was referring to. 

“They’re the same? He made a spectacular pasta dish a few nights ago. You should come over and try it.” Lily wrinkled her nose.

“No, I meant how are things _going._ ” She placed extra emphasis on the last word, as if Scorpius hadn’t caught her meaning the first time. And he had. Scorpius raised his eyebrows disdainfully and glanced down at his watch.

“Lily, you know I love you and appreciate you tons-”

She cut him off before he could chastise her fully. “I mean as in…. you know, have you told him yet?” Her entire body was vibrating with poorly contained excitement. Scorpius did not have nearly enough energy for this conversation.

“Would you please can it?” Scorpius said through gritted teeth. “We’re not talking about this. Please. We can talk about this literally any other time as long as it’s not now. And not during this work shift. I’m begging you. Tomorrow morning you can show up at my house and jabber about this all you’d like.”

In seventh year, when Lily was in fifth year, she had gone searching for a textbook in the Restricted Section in the middle of the night. Instead, she found Scorpius draped over a table in the library, his face in-between the pages of a book titled _Love, Loss, and Longing: Getting Over Heartbreak,_ his chest rising and falling softly.

She had woken him up and helped him back to the Slytherin common room. She gently asked why he had decided to choose such an uncomfortable sleeping position. Scorpius remembers her saying, “it’s none of my business, but why are you reading that particular book?” Scorpius had been so embarrassed that he ended up rambling his way through the whole story of his feelings towards Al. Then, even more mortified having confessed everything to his best friend’s sister, he avoided her for a month until she promised not to tell Al. He nearly made her do an Unbreakable Vow before he realized how ridiculous he was being.

She had brought it up before. Whenever he attends Potter family functions, for starters. In addition to the painfully awkward moments when Lily not-so-subtly brought up Scorpius’ feelings at the dinner table as Al obliviously chattered on about how great of a friend Scorpius was, Lily had infiltrated his peace of mind at work. They were assigned as partners at the beginning of her Healing training program and the end of his. He was supposed to be a mentor figure, a sort of mini-advisor, seeing as he’d already been in the program for two years and was preparing to become a resident. Instead, she had attempted to become an all-powerful counselor for him and his (to use Lily’s phrasing) “love life.” He refused to answer her questions, and she apparently got the hint. Scorpius had thought that she wasn’t going to bring it up ever again. 

Lily looked at him coquettishly from under her eyelashes. “But Scorpius, we never talk about this. C’mon, I was so nice not talking about it during your training. But now we have so much free time! It’s literally the perfect time to gossip about romance.”

Scorpius tried a different tactic. “I have no idea why you expect that face to work on me. You just insinuated that I still have a crush on your brother, which would be-”

“True, as you’ve admitted to it.”

“-preposterous, because that would be so dumb of me, obviously I’ve gotten over it, and now you’re looking at me like… that.” Lily flipped her hair over her shoulder and beamed at him, dropping the antics instantaneously. 

“You do have a crush on him. You’ve said it twice now.”

Scorpius examined his nails as if he cared about them. “When was the other time?”

“Ha!” she cried out, standing up. “You admit it!”

“Did I?” Scorpius said, trying to be sly, but his voice cracked in the middle and it ruined the effect. He cleared his throat. “I’m not sure why you want to hear about this. It involves your brother. Isn’t that gross to hear about? I guess I wouldn’t know.”

“Only the best gossip involves my brother,” Lily said, clasping her hands together. “Tell me everything. You already said most of it, like, three years ago, but I want to hear all the updates. You’re roommates. Well, you already were roommates at Hogwarts, but whatever. Do you share a bed? Do you need tips on kissing?”

“Lily, is this not gross at all for you?” Scorpius hissed, casting furtive looks to make sure no one had overheard their conversation. It seemed pretty unlikely. The cafeteria was deserted at this hour, save for the loved ones of some patients that needed to refuel on coffee or snacks. He would love to be able to talk about this with someone, but Lily was not his first choice, mostly because she was Albus’ sister. Surely she would find it weird, or tell him everything. 

Not that he didn’t trust Lily. He did, a lot. He just didn’t want Al to find out prematurely. Or, preferably, ever. 

“Nope.” She popped the ‘p’ sound. Scorpius focused on the redeeming qualities of Lily so he wouldn’t feel the urge to yell at her in the middle of his shift at work. That would be unbecoming and unnecessary.

“I wish everything was as simple as you make it out to be,” he elected to say instead.

Lily winked. “It can be, if you listen to me.”

“Oh, boy, Ascot’s calling,” Scorpius fibbed, getting up from the table. “See you later.” 

“Bye! You’re a terrible liar!” Lily called out after him, at full volume. And then, as if she hadn’t been embarrassing enough, she added, “Kiss my brother for me!”

Scorpius squeaked and darted out into the hallway. 

*

Scorpius managed to Apparate to his house without any mishaps. Resisting the urge to do a victory dance, he jammed his keys into the door. The day had been more successful than he anticipated, even with Lily being as weird as ever.

It felt odd, though, to be just coming home when the birds were chirping and the sun was over the horizon. His limbs felt incredibly heavy and stiff. It was Friday, thankfully. He had the weekend off, and Al did, too. They could finally spend some time together.

He swung the door open. As soon as he took one foot through the doorway, he dropped his keys onto the carpet like they had stung him, his eyes widening. Oh, Merlin. Scorpius had completely forgotten about the incident from yesterday night. With the keys.

Scorpius shook his head in an effort to scatter those thoughts. “Al’s probably forgotten about it by now. S’alright.” He walked towards the kitchen, trying to not cringe at his own awkwardness. A small part of him wished he had called on Lily’s infinite kindness and talked about the issue at hand. A larger part of him wished he had used his break to be productive and buy some food, instead of wallowing in his emotions and being pissy with Lily for no good reason. 

There was a note pinned to the refrigerator door. “Hey Scorp - made blueberry scones w/ cream for you. In fridge. Love you, Al.” There was a cartoonish heart doodled in the corner, and the note was covered in x’s and o’s. Scorpius felt his whole face turn red. He pocketed the note and took out the scones and the cream.

After practically inhaling two scones, which were delicious, Scorpius resolved to rest his eyes for a moment and garner his strength in order to head upstairs to sleep in his own bed. The walk up to his room felt too exhausting at the moment. As long as he didn’t sleep for too long…

“Scorp! What are you doing!” 

Scorpius blinked his eyes open. “Wha’?”

“Why are you… did you just get home?” Al rushed to his side and jostled his shoulder. “Did you pass out? Are you okay? Do you need me to carry you?”

“I’m fine. Just… exhausted. I didn’t even mean to fall asleep.” Scorpius blinked furiously, trying to keep his eyes open. “What time is it?”

“Almost seven. I got up to make sure you got home. Didn’t see you in your room and got nervous.” Al’s face swam into view, a sheepish smile on his lips. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you up, but thought it was good for you.”

“No, I’m glad you did. Would’ve stayed here and gotten a terrible crick in my neck.” Scorpius yawned, stood up, and felt woozy. He sat back down heavily. “Oof. Actually, do you think you can help me up the stairs?”

“Of course.” Scorpius slung an arm over Al’s shoulders and leaned a good portion of his weight on his friend. Al grunted. “You’re a bit heavy.”

“Sorry.”

Al laughed. “I’m joking. You’re a fucking stick.” Scorpius shuffled forward, Al supporting him from behind. Together they made the climb up the stairs and into Scorpius’ bedroom. Scorpius fell face-first onto his bed.

“Well.” Al shoved his hands into his pockets, determinedly not staring at Scorpius. “Want to put on pyjamas, Scorp?”

“No,” Scorpius groaned. “Wanna sleep like this.”

“You can’t,” Al said. Merlin, he was so patient. Scorpius didn’t deserve him. “Here, I’ll help you. Pull your shoes off and I’ll get your things for you.” Scorpius nodded furiously into his comforter and mechanically pulled off his trainers. His feet felt like lead. He just wanted to curl up and pass out.

“Here’s some mint gum. You should get into the habit of brushing your teeth, though. Not good for you to keep forgetting.” Al tossed a white piece of gum in his direction along with his pyjama pants and shirt. Scorpius nodded, half-aware of the words Al was saying. Dutifully, he chewed on the gum and pulled off his robes. Thank Merlin Al didn’t give him spare underwear. That would’ve been uncomfortable. Al looked away pointedly as he changed. 

After he was all set for bed, Scorpius spat out his gum into a napkin and pulled his covers up to his chin. “Night, Al. Love you bunches. You’re a really, really great friend,” he mumbled.

“Goodnight, Scorp.” Al hesitated for a moment, lingering at Scorpius’ bedside table like he had forgotten how to move. Scorpius closed his eyes. Al leaned in and kissed Scorpius on the forehead before scampering out of the room and closing the door. 

*

The third Thursday of each month was always a Takeout Thursday. They would order an excessive amount of food that they were craving and attempt to eat it all while watching a terrible movie. Scorpius claimed that it helped him cope with Healer training; Al had no excuse but was eager to sit around and do nothing, so it worked out well. By the time Scorpius became a resident, it had become such an ingrained habit that they couldn’t imagine not doing Takeout Thursdays. 

“C’mon, we haven’t seen horror in forever!” Al needled, waving his phone around to prove how a horrendous horror movie was obviously superior to Scorpius’ choice. 

“Al, clearly Doggone Wild is the better choice here. Anyone could see it. Anthropomorphized dogs? Muggles’ take on magic? What’s not to love?”

“Uh, aliens!” 

Scorpius let Al have his choice, in the end. That was fairly typical. While they tried to trade off who picked the movie, Al had a powerful pout. Scorpius could not say no to those eyes. They could melt anyone’s heart easily. 

They were curled up on opposite ends of the couch under a massive duvet when the movie started. The movie followed a standard formula: someone does something stupid, strange things start happening, people investigate, and then shit hits the fan. But there wasn’t just psychological horror in this movie. Aliens were also attempting to wage war on all of humanity.

While the movie was terrible, Scorpius couldn’t help but freak out at every jumpscare. The loud noise got to him, no matter how predictable it was. Gradually, he noticed that he had scooted closer and closer to Al with every scary moment.

They met in the middle about a quarter of the way into the movie. Scorpius shuffled closer only to hit Al’s thigh. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“S’alright.” And then, far more surprising than anything that had happened in the movie, Scorpius felt Al’s fingers brush against his own. He held his breath and waited for Al to move. They sat there in total silence for what felt like hours.

Then, a monster lunged at the screen. Scorpius’ concentration was broken. He screamed and latched onto Al’s hand. For a moment, he considered taking it back. He was certain that his face was flaming red.

But then Al tightened his hold on Scorpius’ hand, and all coherent thought vanished from his mind. He couldn’t even focus on the movie anymore. His brain was simply a babbling mess, repeating the word _Al Al Al Al Al_ over and over and over again. 

They didn’t separate when the movie was over. They stayed there, holding hands, for what felt like eternity, yet not long enough at the same time. Finally, Al stood up and stretched, releasing Scorpius’ hand. 

“Well, it’s getting pretty late, and you should take advantage of having a proper night’s sleep for the first time in- what, a month?” Al’s voice did a good job of sounding casual, but his mouth was twitching.

“Er, yeah. I think that’s about right.”

“Well, see you tomorrow.” Al stood in front of Scorpius, unmoving.

“Can we make pancakes tomorrow?” Scorpius blurted. “With chocolate chips? And blueberries? I feel like we haven’t had pancakes in forever.”

Al touched the back of his neck with his hand, looking abashed. “Uh, yeah. Whatever you want, Scorp.”

“Yay! Thanks!” Scorpius leaned in for a hug and kissed Al’s temple. “You’re the best!” He flew up the stairs.

He hardly slept, too busy buzzing with excitement and nerves for no good reason. Scorpius felt like he was teetering on the edge of a cliff with a massive drop. And while it made his heart swoop dangerously, it felt incredibly full at the same time. Like something good was about to happen.

*

“Think fast,” Al said as soon as Scorpius trudged down the stairs. He had awoken to the unmistakable smell of pancakes. Blueberry-chocolate pancakes, to be precise. His absolute favorite kind of pancakes.

“Hm?” Scorpius was greeted with a faceful of pancake. He was too tired to be irritated. When he removed the food item from his face, Al was leaning against the countertop, laughing his head off.

“Thanks a lot,” Scorpius said. And then, worried that Al had thought he was being sarcastic, he added, “Seriously.” His voice was bright. He was grateful that Al had cooked breakfast for him. He knew that Al had said so the night before, and Al cooked all the time, anyway, but still. It was nice.

“Sorry - your face!” Al continued to chuckle to himself sporadically as he flipped the pancakes. Scorpius sat down at the table. There was sausage, fruit, and toast before him. His stomach growled. “I won’t be mean anymore, I promise, but you have to admit. That was hysterical.”

“It was, yeah.” Moments later, Al turned off the stove and joined him, a plate of pancakes in his arms. Al preferred to cook the Muggle way. He said it was more fun, even though it took far longer.

“How has work been for you? I’m sorry, I’ve been complaining too much lately. I feel like you deserve to get the spotlight once in awhile.” 

“Hey, you’re not being annoying. You can always complain to me.” Al put a forkful of pancakes in his mouth. “Ith been nith.” He swallowed. “I finished my consultation on the Ministry case with the Erumpent horn. Exploding potion, remember? They said they found the group through tracking the ingredient. They were arrested, thank Merlin. It was the powder made from yellow crystals. I got to name it, because we’ve never worked with it before.”

“That’s amazing, Al! Wow, what an honor! I’m so proud of you. What did you name it?”

“Well, remember how you said that the ingredient might be something that Muggles use? Or an altered version of it?” Scorpius nodded. They had talked over Al’s case a few days ago when Al had hit an impasse and asked Scorpius for ideas. Scorpius didn’t think anything he said would be that important, as Al was far more knowledgeable about potions than he was. “It was something Muggle, actually.”

“That’s funny. I didn’t expect anything I said to be that significant.” Al gave him a dirty look.

“Of course what you say matters! I take everything you say seriously.” Scorpius tried not to blush. “I named it Tritolo scorpii, borrowing a little bit from the Muggle name. Scorpion’s Crystal, if someone wants to get fancy. Not that anyone except for Ministry potioneers should have access to it. It’s dangerous. But you get what I mean.” Al shrugged like what he had said was not monumental and went back to stuffing his face with pancakes.

“After… after me?” 

“Yeah, why not.” 

Scorpius stood up from the table and engulfed Al in a fierce hug. “You shouldn’t have. You’re the one who found it.” He could only see Al’s unruly dark hair from this angle. Al smelled like pancakes, and coffee, and chocolate, and also like Al. He resisted the urge to breathe in like some sort of weirdo, but only barely.

“You helped, though. I’ve already named something after myself, anyway. Remember Curse of the Asp? Nassauvia serpens potterus?” Al had discovered a new flowering plant that mimicked another flower commonly used in simple healing potions. It turned any ‘friendly’ potion into a deadly cocktail that killed upon ingestion. “Plus, it’s not like… a very nice ingredient. I would have prefered to name you after something nice, but I think everyone’s found all the nice ingredients already. That, and my job doesn’t require me to look for them.”

Scorpius released Al from the hug and sat back down. “Thank you.” He was going to cry, right now, at the breakfast table because his best friend was sweet. Too sweet for his own good. Too sweet for his own good, and also had chocolate under his bottom lip. Scorpius made a mental amendment. Al was both too sweet and too attractive for his own good. 

Al’s face was redder than a strawberry. He wiped the chocolate away with the back of his hand and then licked his lips. Scorpius didn't track that movement at all. He _didn't_. “Er, yeah. Uh… do you want more pancakes?”

“Yes, please.”


	3. Three

“Here’s your muffin!” Lily said, her bright voice cutting through Scorpius’ internal dithering. She slid into the chair next to Scorpius. “I got you blueberry. I think Al's said that's your favorite before. I hope he wasn't lying. Anyway, how are you? Is it nice not being stuck with the night shift?”

“Yeah, it is.” Scorpius took a piece of the muffin. It was strange, being in the cafeteria on break when it was only two in the afternoon. It felt like he was dreaming. Too good to be true. “And I work more with Ascot now. The change was so abrupt. I hope it stays, though.” 

“Me too.” Lily was clearly still incensed. It was surprising to Scorpius to see how vehemently she felt about this issue. Then he remembered it was Lily and she feels strongly about everything. 

They sat there, Scorpius eating chunks of his muffin, Lily checking on a patient’s charts. He felt his stomach turning over and shoved the muffin aside. His brain felt like it was shaking. Vibrating. He couldn’t stop thinking about the weird flirting that had been going on for the past week or so. 

Should he ask Lily? What if she told Al about how ridiculous he was? 

“Lily,” he said. He didn’t mean to actually ask her, but his brain and mouth had a disconnect and he found himself speaking exactly what was on his mind. He didn’t even need Veritaserum to spill his own secrets. How embarrassing. 

“Yeah? What’s up?” 

“Uh.” Scorpius looked down at his picked-apart muffin, trying to summon the nerve to ask the question that's been on his mind 24/7 lately. 

Lily misunderstood his crestfallen expression and jumped in with a barrage of questions. “Are you okay? Are you fighting with Al? Is there anything I can do?”

“I think I’m dating your brother!” Scorpius blurted.

Lily looked at him for a moment, her lower lip quivering. Scorpius thought, for a split second, that he had somehow gravely hurt her feelings and was trying to remember the proper incantation for Conjuring tissues. He started to reach for his wand. 

Then she burst out laughing. Her shoulders shook with the force and her red curls seemed to take on a life of their own. Scorpius patted her shoulder, a bit terrified, but mostly confused. 

When Lily looked up again, the skin under her eyes was stained with mascara. She wiped away a stray tear from the corner of her eye. “That’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard you say. Holy shit, Scorpius. Quit being a Healer. You should be a comedian!”

Scorpius was certain that his face resembled one huge question mark. “Lily, I’m glad you enjoy my humor, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m confused.” 

Lily chewed at her lip. “I have no idea how you got yourself into this situation, but I think there’s a pretty clear solution. It’s actually the solution for any time you have a problem with Albus. You guys need to have a proper conversation. Or just make out. Whatever works.”

“No! Lily! That’s… not what I…” When no words came to him, he swatted at her arm. A hot spike of irritation flared in his gut. He wished he could talk about this with someone who got it, got him, but that would be Al, and there was no way he was talking to Al about any of this. 

Picturing that conversation caused an involuntary giggle to escape his throat. “Can you imagine? Uh, hey Al - are we dating?” They both started laughing again.

“Hum, I don’t know Scorpius, are we?” Lily imitated, widening her eyes. They laughed a few moments more before her face slackened and turned solemn. “Okay. You don’t know if you’re dating. Why are you confused?”

“Well… we keep having odd little moments. Like, we’re…” Scorpius trailed off, wondering how much he wanted to share with Lily. “Er, we act like we’re dating without the label and I don’t know how to bring it up.”

Lily tapped her chin. “Maybe wait a little longer. Feel it out. There’s no harm in that, is there?”

“No, I guess not.” Scorpius put his chin on the table. “I just hate this feeling. Of not knowing.”

“Poor Scorpius, not knowing the answer to something. This hasn’t happened to you since… what, second year?” Scorpius shoved her good-naturedly. “It’ll end up okay, no matter what. I’ve gotta go, anyway. I have a seminar upstairs. Toodles!” With that, she got up and skipped out of the lunchroom. He marveled at her remarkable ability to oscillate from serious to silly and back again in a matter of seconds. 

Scorpius covered his face with his hands. That conversation was not as eye-opening as he hoped it would be. 

*

“Scorp, are you feeling Chinese or Indian tonight?”

“Indian,” Scorpius replied easily. Then he stopped rifling through his papers and glanced up to ask Al why he was asking for Scorpius' takeout order, as it was a Tuesday. Upon looking up, he immediately forgot his question and instead gaped helplessly. His mouth hung open like that of a fish. “What are you wearing?” His voice cracked halfway through the sentence. 

Al was wearing a bathrobe. Al did not own a bathrobe. Al was wearing the white, fuzzy bathrobe with Scorpius’ initials embroidered on the front. The bathrobe that Scorpius’ father had gifted him when they had purchased the house together. 

“Oh, I hope you don’t mind,” Al said, in the middle of towel-drying his hair like whatever was unfolding in the living room was super casual. “We share things all the time. I know your dad gave this to you, though, so if you want me to change I’ll do it in a jiffy.”

“It’s… fine.” Scorpius cleared his throat. His brain was having a very hard time focusing on the task at hand, which was a twenty-page report on the modern advancements in potion addiction treatment. The room was warmer than it had been before. He was sure of it. “What did you say, again?”

Al laughed. “Airhead.”

“Am not.” Scorpius at least had the mental brainpower to pretend to bristle. “But seriously. I was distracted.”

“Distracted, were you?” Al hummed. Scorpius felt his throat close up. “I’m teasing. You’re all weird tonight. Did you get enough sleep?”

“Oh, for sure.” Scorpius felt more woozy than he did during any all-nighter he’d pulled for work in the past. “But I’m being serious. I actually forgot what you said. My brain is fried by all this medical jargon. I think everything I do is automatic at this point.” Nice one, Scorpius. He wasn’t doing such a terrible job of pretending not to be head-over-heels with his best mate. 

“Classic Scorp,” Al said, with no real bite to his words. “I was asking what you wanted for takeout.”

Scorpius frowned. “It’s not Thursday.” Did he have the day wrong? Was he going literally insane? He hoped not.

“Can it be a Takeout Tuesday? Instead of a Takeout Thursday?” Al said plaintively. I’ve had a rough day.”

Scorpius caved immediately. “Okay. As long as you get the stuff I like.”

“Alright. I’ll call the order in soon.” Al stretched out on the couch opposite Scorpius’ desk. Scorpius tried to discreetly steady his breathing and not look over at Al. He was doing a miserable job. 

“Are you alright?”

“What?” Scorpius jerked to attention. “Yes.”

“Are you sure about that?” Al asked. 

Scorpius fought a blush desperately. “Actually, I’m not feeling great. I’m going to lie down for a second. Is that okay? You can call in the order now, but will you wait for me before you eat? I don’t want you to have to eat alone.”

“That’s fine!” Al stood up and walked over to Scorpius. Scorpius swallowed thickly as Al ruffled his hair affectionately. Platonically. Whatever. “Take care of yourself, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Scorpius said in a faint whisper. Al smiled toothily.

Scorpius walked upstairs and shut the door to his room. He lay down in his bed and stared straight up at the ceiling, unblinking. He promised himself fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes, and then he had to go back downstairs and face Al.

He did not get much rest in those fifteen minutes.

*

“Ready to hear me complain?” Al asked, once Scorpius had returned downstairs. Thankfully, Al had changed into jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. Scorpius secretly said thank-you to the natural or unnatural forces that persuaded Al to put on real clothes so he wouldn’t continue to torture poor Scorpius. 

Scorpius sat down next to Al on the couch. “Always, Al.” 

Al took a deep breath. “You know… Sunday lunches?”

Oh Merlin, did Scorpius know Sunday lunches. Every first Sunday of the month, every single available member of the Weasley-Potter-Granger-et-cetera clan, along with their plus-ones, got together for dinner at the Burrow and, essentially, talk about how accomplished and successful they were. Scorpius had never attended one, but he had frequently heard Al complain about them.

“Yes, I know the infamous Sunday lunches.” Al huffed out a laugh.

“There’s one this weekend, and I accidentally told Mum that I had a date.” Scorpius’ heart stopped beating. When it started up its rhythm again, it was beating at five times the rate than what was normal. He put a hand over his mouth to resist the urge to yell, or say something ridiculous. Al winced and put his face in his hands, completely misinterpreting Scorpius’ gesture. “I know! Okay, let me explain.

“Lily and I visited Mum the other day. Just to talk about life and whatever. Anyway, she ended up saying that I have a boyfriend. I’m going to kill her. I have no idea why she thought that. But then Mum turned to me, all excited that I was finally dating again, and got super into the idea. I didn’t want to let her down, so I just agreed with Lily and said I had a date for lunch. Now she’s probably told everyone in the family, and I have no idea what to do!”

“Aw, Al.” Scorpius pulled Al into a fierce hug. Al buried his head in Scorpius’ shoulder and encircled his arms around Scorpius’ midsection. It was nice. After a moment, Al withdrew and lay on his side, facing away from Scorpius. His face was bright red. “Why didn’t you say no?”

Al looked away from Scorpius’ face. “I didn’t want to be disappointing. As per usual, haha.” Scorpius had such a strong swell of affection for his best mate that it almost made him physically sick. Al looked miserable, all curled up on the couch with his head hanging. 

“Not as per usual. You aren’t disappointing. You’re never, ever disappointing. You’re you, and I love you, and your whole family loves you the way you are.” Al sniffed. “Oh, dear. Don’t cry. If you start crying, then I’m going to start crying, and then neither of us will be much use in that state, will we?”

Al laughed wetly. Then he paused. “I always think back to the early years, back when we were at Hogwarts. I was always the disappointment. The Slytherin Squib. The black sheep of the Potter family. And it wasn’t just at school. Obviously my family loves me and all that, but… I know it’s stupid. I know that was years ago. But I didn’t want Mum to make that little sad face she makes - that she used to make all the time back then - so I lied, instead.” He groaned. “This is so dumb. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not dumb,” Scorpius said automatically. “You could ask a coworker?” Scorpius was imagining several imaginative hexes and jinxes to use on Lily the next time he saw her at work. He knew exactly what she was trying to do. And it wasn’t going to work. It was only going to put Al (and him) through unnecessary misery. She was going to owe him several blueberry flavored baked goods. And a hug. And an apology.

“Yeah, ask my fifty year old coworker to a Sunday lunch. Romantic. Classy. Believable. Fantastic idea, Scorp,” Al deadpanned. He flopped backwards onto the couch, looking much like a starfish, before raising his hands again. “I’m going to kill Lily!”

“Yeah, me too,” Scorpius mumbled under his breath.

“What?” Al cupped a hand to his ear. “I can’t hear you, I’m too busy having fantasies about pranking Lily.” 

“I said, you could say that you don’t have a date anymore?”

Al wrinkled his nose. “I don’t want them to think that I can’t keep a date. And it sounds weird, too. Like, sorry I can’t make it, we conveniently broke up twelve hours before lunch?”

What Lily was trying to do was a terrible idea. It was a no-good, awful idea that could only end up in awkwardness and somebody having to move out of the house. And he was going to do it, because he was a massive idiot with an even bigger crush on his best friend.

“Al? I have an idea.” Scorpius’ voice came out quiet and resigned. Al, thankfully, did not pick up on the shift in tone. 

“Do you have a proposal to put me out of my misery, O Great and Powerful Scorpius?” Al threw his arms into the air before tugging at his hair. Scorpius snorted. It was clear who the drama queen was in this house, and his last name began with a P.

“What if you took me?” Scorpius asked, his voice so soft that he was afraid that maybe Al hadn’t heard him.

“Haha, yeah. Good one.” There was a moment as Al processed. Then, he shook himself and sat straight up, eyes locked onto Scorpius’ face. He bit at his lip, clearly weighing his words carefully. The tips of his ears were tinged with pink, as were his cheeks. “Scorp, did I hear you right?”

It took a massive helping of courage for Scorpius to clear his throat and say, “I think so.”

“Um, okay.” They both sat there, staring at each other, waiting for the other to call a bluff and back out. But neither of them did. Scorpius opened his mouth to speak - to ask a question, to confirm that Al was okay with it, whatever it entailed, to do anything but coexist in this awkward moment - but then the doorbell rang.

Al jumped to his feet. “I got it!” he called, rushing towards the doorway.

Scorpius stared after him, and then turned back to his desk and began shoving his papers back into their respective files. He didn’t care if he had to turn in some reports late. He was going to figure out what was going on between them if it killed him. He hoped it wouldn’t, though. 

Al returned to the living room with a plastic bag, plastic cutlery, and paper plates. “I don’t feel like doing dishes. C’mon, turn on the telly! It’s your choice, anyway.”

“Mine? Really?” Scorpius knew almost with total certainty that it was Al’s pick this time, but didn’t comment on it further. “Okay, wait, I have a list, let me find it...”

Scorpius’ pick was met with distaste. “A rom-com?” Al asked, wrinkling his nose. “Seriously? What about that dog movie you were suggesting not too long ago? That one looked good. And unromantic.” 

Scorpius grinned. “You said it was my pick!” He could feel Al rolling his eyes, but dutifully moving to start the movie anyway.

With plates of curry and vegetables, a warm blanket to share on their laps, and the lights off, Al clicked the remote and started the movie. 

About halfway through, Scorpius felt a weight slide onto his shoulder. He looked down and saw Al’s closed eyes. He lifted up his arm and draped it across his friend’s shoulders, pulling Al in closer. He started a mental chant. _Nothing wrong with this. This can be platonic. Nothing wrong with this. Nothing wrong with this..._

The movie was at its biggest scene. The main character was about to make a decision about whether he should come clean from a lie, or tell the truth and implicate him of having done something terrible. If he told the truth, he might lose people close to him. But if he continued to lie, it could have disastrous consequences. 

Scorpius turned off the movie before the character made the decision, and pushed at Al’s shoulder, gently dislodging him. Al made a sound in his sleep and started leaning towards him once more, but Scorpius removed himself from the couch before Al fell asleep on him again. He rearranged Al’s position so that he wouldn’t be uncomfortable when he woke up and draped the blanket over his whole body. He stood there for a moment, watching Al sleep and trying not to feel like a creep. _Nothing wrong with this. Nothing wrong with this._

Something in Scorpius’ stomach was jolting about uncomfortably, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t the curry. 

*

“Is a button down too formal?” Al turned from the mirror in Scorpius’ room, fiddling with the buttons.

“Al, you’ve gone to this dinner before. You would know better than I would,” Scorpius said. Al’s grimace did not subside. “Oh, stop it. It’s fine. You look… really great.”

“Thanks.” Was it hot in here? It felt rather warm. Al seemed to be as toasty as he was; there was a beat of sweat on his temple and his cheeks were flushed. “You look beautiful. Uh, great. Yeah. Blue looks nice on you.”

Scorpius coughed into his hand. “That’s nice of you to say. Ha, why are you so nervous? Man, shouldn’t I be the one that’s nervous?” Scorpius was nervous. He was terrified of screwing everything up. Terrified, and abnormally sweaty. It was definitely too hot in Al’s room. It was addling their brains. That was why Al said that. He was having a hard time thinking because of the heat. Yes. That made sense.

“You sound pretty nervous to me, Scorp,” Al said, but his head clearly wasn’t in the joke. He had a glassy, faraway look in his eyes. He sat on the carpet, his back to Scorpius. “What if they think we’re dating?”

Scorpius resisted the urge to sigh explosively and said the most neutral thing he could. “Well, tell them the truth.”

Al turned around, his face a mixture of emotions, none of them distinct. “What if they don’t like the truth?”

“Al, I don’t think they could hate you if they tried. I couldn’t hate you if I tried, that’s for sure.” Hell, Scorpius didn’t even know the truth, and he’d like to figure that out, and preferably before this family lunch. But he didn’t know how to articulate that without freaking out and attempting to Apparate to Antarctica, so he simply tugged at Al’s sleeve. “You’re all worried up. C’mon, let’s go over to the Burrow.”

“I am not worried up,” Al harrumphed, and then the moment was lost. Scorpius’s smile fell slightly. They walked downstairs and stood in front of the fireplace. Al reached for the Floo powder, humming a song to himself.

“We’re not going to talk about this, are we?” Scorpius said. Al stopped humming. Scorpius blanched. He didn’t mean to say anything. It just sort of happened. And then he soldiered on. In for a knut, in for a sickle. “We should talk about this. I think it’s weird that we haven’t talked about this. Shouldn’t we discuss boundaries? You’re my best mate, Al, I don’t want anything to change.”

Al stared at him. A painfully long silence followed where the two looked at each other. Just looked. Analyzed. Tried to see what the other wanted to say without saying any words at all. Scorpius felt his frustration rising. Then Al said, “I don’t want anything to change, either.”

“Good.” They agreed. Then why did Scorpius feel like he’d been kicked in the gut? “Good. I’m glad. But we need to talk about this. When I said I don’t want anything to change, I meant I don’t want anything to get awkward. You know what I mean? This is strange situation. It’s a good idea to acknowledge how strange it is. And then we go about figuring out a way to make this an okay situation. Yes?”

Al was wide-eyed. Maybe Scorpius had gone a little too hard on the pep talk. Regardless, he nodded. “Okay. I’m- yeah. Yeah. That makes sense.” Curse Al for being so breathy for no reason. Scorpius felt a shiver go up his spine. “This is strange. We’ve both said it, now. Okay. What boundaries do you want?” 

“We should make this believable as possible. But don’t kiss me on the lips.” It was almost painful to say that. Scorpius took a deep breath.

Al raised his eyebrows. “That seems like a contradiction, don’t you think?”

“Let me finish, Albus Severus.” Al laughed. Scorpius quirked an eyebrow. “Are you not trembling in fear at my imposing usage of your entire name? I can do it again. Quiver in your boots this time, would you?” Al made a noise through his bout of laughter, a sort of half-guffaw, half-snort that was so ridiculous that Scorpius couldn’t help but smile.

There was a moment where everything felt so normal. Then Scorpius reminded why he was talking in the first place and sobered immediately. “As I was saying. Please don’t kiss me on the lips. You can hold my hand, or hug me, or kiss me on the cheek. But I think public displays of affection are kind of gross. Anyone that went to Hogwarts with us knows that I find them to be tacky. They’ll know that something is weird if we’re suddenly lovey-dovey with each other.” 

“Yeah, clearly everyone knows that, seeing all of the relationships you’ve been in.” Scorpius wrinkled his nose at Al. Al’s teasing expression withered almost immediately. There was a heavy silence. “Sorry.” 

“It’s okay.” Scorpius should’ve laughed at the joke instead of looking like Al had mortally wounded him. Whatever. What’s done is done. “I meant… I don’t want to screw this up for you. For either of us. I think it’s too embarrassing to reveal that this is fake. I don't want to get caught in a lie. That would be mortifying." 

“That’s for sure. James and Lily would never let me live it down.” Albus still looked like a kicked puppy. Scorpius wanted to hug him. He never meant to hurt his feelings. He just wanted to protect himself. If Al kissed him, he would pass the point of no return. It would be impossible for him to get over his long-harboured crush. “How are we going to break up, then? This can’t exactly last forever.”

Scorpius wanted to say, _It can’t? Are you sure about that?_ But he couldn’t. “We can keep this up for a month and then say that we thought it was a good idea, but we work better as friends.” The words left a sour taste in his mouth. Scorpius was beginning to regret proposing this idea. 

Al looked like he’d been sucker-punched. His mouth was twisted into a deep frown. When he spoke, it was hard to hear him. “That sounds about right. Thanks for planning all this. Merlin knows I’m useless with this sort of thing.” He laughed, but it was clearly forced.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Scorpius said. “We have time. You can change your mind. It’s okay.”

“We have to do this. There’s no backing out now.” Al wouldn’t meet Scorpius’ eyes. He donned a grin and clapped Scorpius on the back. “Let’s get going! We’re going to be late. We’ve got an audience to impress.”

“That’s for sure.” Something in the atmosphere was wrong, but no matter how hard Scorpius tried, Al wouldn’t budge and talk about it. It hurt. It hurt a lot, actually. It wasn’t fair that Al was keeping secrets, especially when it was about something bothering him. But Scorpius remembered that he, too, was keeping a secret from his best friend; he wasn't one to talk. That realization made him feel much like he’d swallowed a live fish. 

When Scorpius put his hand on Al’s arm so they could Floo at the same time, Al flinched. Scorpius hesitated, the powder heavy in his palm, but then Al grabbed his forearm and yelled “The Burrow!” before Scorpius could say anything. Scorpius squeezed his eyes shut.


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thank you all so much for your wonderful comments on this fic. PA was a joy to write, and I'm so happy I could share it with you all. until next time. 
> 
> <3 glitter

They emerged from the fire, Scorpius wiping soot from his shirt. Al stood there, perfectly still, except for his hands. He was twisting them about, plucking at his fingers and bending them backwards and forwards.

Scorpius twitched. Al’s fidgeting was becoming rather obvious. He reached forward and firmly entwined Al’s fingers with his own. Al’s palms were miraculously not sweaty. Scorpius was jealous; he was certain his own clammy hands were disgusting. Gently, he squeezed Al’s hand. Al looked up at him. Scorpius mouthed, _This okay?_

Al nodded and offered Scorpius a small smile. They turned to face Al’s family, who was sprawled over various couches and armchairs and looking very much like they had been collectively slapped in the face. 

As soon as Scorpius was starting to wonder if they had made a massive mistake and if it was too late to leave, James and Lily walked up to the pair. Easy conversation flowed once more. Scorpius let out a low, whistling sigh of relief. Al was clenching Scorpius’ hand so tightly that he was sure his blood was no longer reaching his fingers.

“All right, Scorpius?” James said, clapping him on the back. Scorpius nodded and stuttered out a non-answer. Thankfully, James took it and let them be. 

“Al,” Scorpius whispered. Al’s head whipped around. “Er, I can’t feel my fingers.” 

Al immediately dropped Scorpius’ hand. “Sorry.” Scorpius mourned the sudden loss of warmth. Al could be so thick sometimes. 

“No, I meant-”

Lily snuck up behind him and pulled him aside, leaving Al in the center of the room, looking rather lost. Scorpius swallowed down his rising guilt. This plan of his was a disaster already. “You did come with him, I see.”

“I hate you and you owe me three gazillon muffins,” Scorpius hissed under his breath. Lily laughed.

“More like you’ll owe me!” she said in a sing-song voice, already moving away to the thick of the crowd. Scorpius groaned.

“Everyone! Dinner’s ready!” called out Grandma Molly. There was a mad rush for the table as everyone wanted to get the seats closest to their favorite dishes. Scorpius and Al ended up right in front of the peas.

“Where’s Rose?” Scorpius asked. She was conspicuously missing from the table. 

“Oh, she had some sort of work-related problem that she needed to deal with,” Hermione answered. “She’s so busy, that one. Busy as a bee.”

“She works hard, that’s for sure. Pass the potatoes, Albus?” Al’s dad said. Scorpius noticed him wipe his palms on his pants before reaching for the dish. 

Scorpius found it easy to engage with Al’s family. After all these years of being friends with Al, it felt a bit like his family, too. But there was an uneasy undercurrent throughout the night. His hair stood on end. He knew the inevitable barrage of questions was coming, and he knew that he wasn’t quite prepared for it. They hadn’t tried to sort out answers. They were screwed. 

“Now, dear Albus,” some distant relative crooned; Scorpius was forgetting the names in his mild panic. “Tell me about your beau here? How long has this been going on?”

Well. Scorpius sucked in a deep breath. This is it. Al was fidgeting, not making eye contact with anyone. Lily was so enthralled by the conversation that she was forgetting how to act casual and had her elbow in the gravy dish. James was swatting at her. Al’s mum and dad gave them both a huge smile.

Al let out a loud exhale. “Um. Not much to tell. It all started by accident, you know? Scorpius here, he forgot his keys one day, and when I told him he was forgetting something, he thought I meant… well, he kissed me instead.”

There was an appreciative cooing sound from around the table. “Not on the lips!” Scorpius added hastily. Then he glanced over at Al. Was this all pretend? It didn’t feel like pretend, did it? Al gave Scorpius a weak smile. 

“No, it was a very dainty kiss. And then he made a squeaking sound when he realized I meant his keys and Apparated right to work.” Everyone laughed. “I don’t know, we’ve been sort of going out ever since. It’s been… quite nice.” Scorpius’ chest felt warm, though doubt hung over him like a stubborn cloud. 

Lily sent Scorpius a look that screamed of _I told you so._

“Now, Al,” Al’s dad said. Al looked down at the scraps of food he’d been playing with all night. “Why didn’t you tell us sooner? We would’ve-”

“Al didn’t really want to make a big deal out of it,” Scorpius cut in. “It was… unfamiliar territory for the both of us, at first. We were hesitant to shake things up abruptly. And coming out felt like a big step.”

“Both of you were already out,” James said. 

“No, not… not literally coming out. Coming out to each other, if that makes sense. Admitting everything.” Scorpius couldn’t bring himself to look at Al. His hands were shaking violently. He stuffed them under his legs so that no one would notice.

“Well, we’re very happy for you two,” Al’s dad said. He raised his glass. “A toast to- to new beginnings!”

Everyone murmured the toast and clinked glasses. Scorpius tried to meet Al’s eyes, but his friend was stubbornly staring at the peas as though they offended him on a personal level. 

How do they go back? What do they do if this all falls apart? Scorpius’ stomach was rolling about. He worried that he may puke at the dinner table in front of all of Al’s family. That would be a surefire way to win them over. _Hey, I’m actually not dating Al, and I’m going to regurgitate your meal all over your fancy plates!_

“Hey, Scorp. How’s your work?” James asked cheerily. Scorpius opened his mouth to respond, but then saw James discretely mouth the words, You good, mate? to him. Scorpius felt some of the tension in his shoulders release. 

He nodded his head, suddenly seized with an intense feeling of gratitude for Al’s family, before responding, “It’s alright, but they’ve been putting me on the night shifts. Not so much anymore, though. I have one next Thursday.”

James cocked his head, something Scorpius had seen Al do a million and one times. “Huh. Lily said they bumped you off that schedule after she complained.” Then he turned bright red. “Shit. I probably wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?”

“JAMES SIRIUS, YOU’RE AN AWFUL BROTHER AND A WORSE SECRET-KEEPER!” Lily yelled. She took a carrot from her plate and chucked it at James, who skillfully dodged the projectile as though this was typical. Honestly, Scorpius wouldn’t be surprised if it were a daily occurence. He would never dare do that in front of his dad. Though Dad would probably have a good chuckle over it. 

His stomach sank. His dad. How was he going to explain this to him? Surely the Potters would tell him about it. Now Scorpius was going to have to placate his father and tell him no, Scorpius did not forget to tell him about a significant other, that everything was a big game of pretend. He could practically see his father’s eye twitching. 

“Lily. I can’t believe I’m about to say this to you, but do not throw your food!” Ginny admonished. “How old are you now?”

“Lily, I really appreciate you telling the administration to move my schedule around,” Scorpius said. “But how did you manage to do it?”

“Er…” Lily’s face turned the exact shade of red that James’ face had moments earlier. “I might’ve used the classic I’m-Harry-Potter’s-Daughter trick?”

Harry groaned. “Lily Luna… I thought I told you that you weren’t allowed to say that anymore!” He looked over at Scorpius. “Though it’s okay if you’re using it for Scorpius here. He’s basically family.”

Scorpius’ heart warmed with the compliment. He glanced over to his left to catch Al’s eye, but noticed that his friend was missing from the table. He frowned slightly. “Thank you, Harry. I really appreciate that. Excuse me for a moment.”

“Always welcome here, Scorpius. Wish we’d had you over sooner.” Scorpius mumbled something incoherent and ducked out of the room, already dialing Al’s number. Praying to Merlin he would pick up, Scorpius locked himself in the bathroom and began to pace.

“Hey, you’ve reached Albus Potter, please leave a message-” Scorpius hung up and threw his phone on the floor. He ran his hands roughly through his hair, tugging at it this way and that. What if Al ran away and took all his stuff and took a Portkey to Australia and I never saw him again? 

There was a gentle knocking at the door. He shot to his feet. “Hey, it’s James. You mind?”

Scorpius braced himself on the sink for a moment before unlocking the door. “No, I’ll be right out.” 

James was leaning against the wall opposite and flashed Scorpius a bright smile. “Everything okay? With… you know. Lily filled me in on most of the details. Merlin knows Al wouldn’t.” Scorpius tried to not look too upset, but evidently he did not do a very good job, as James rushed to add, “Not that he doesn’t care! Because he does! He’s not the best with feelings, though. You know that. He’s a bit of a dense idiot.”

“You can say that again,” Scorpius mumbled.

“He’s a bit of a dense idiot.” Scorpius snorted, and James let out a relieved hum. “If you need to talk to me, I’m here. I’m assuming Lily did not catch you up with her little scheme to get you two, er, together?”

“She did not consult me prior to throwing me into this mess, no.” James made a sympathetic face and scuffed the ground with his shoe.

“Sorry about that. I think we’re all a tiny bit impulsive here. It’s the Potter genes. And the Weasley genes, honestly. I don’t think we were dealt a very good deck. Except for, you know, the Harry-Potter-Is-My-Dad card.”

Scorpius laughed. “Thanks, James. Do you know where Al’s gone to?”

James shook his head. “Thought I heard an Apparition crack earlier, but I can’t be certain.” That was the opposite of what Scorpius wanted to hear. Al could be anywhere if he were Apparting. 

“I’ll tell everyone you were called in to work on an emergency, all right?” James clapped him on the shoulder. For a moment, Scorpius was struck by how kind the Potter family was. He felt tears prickle the back of his eyes, and he willed himself to not break down. Later. That was for later. 

“Thank you, James.” Scorpius ran out onto the back porch and swiftly Disapparated back home. He strode into the house, keys thankfully in hand, and called out for Al. No response. He got ready for bed, but he was too wired up from the events of the evening to do anything but walk around the house and freak out. Al wasn’t at home. Al wasn’t anywhere near home, either. 

When Scorpius got into bed two hours later, Al had yet to return. He pulled the covers over himself and tried not to feel upset about the situation anymore. He failed. 

*

“Hey.”

Scorpius hit his head against the headboard of his bed in his haste to sit up. He wiped the drool from his mouth and looked up, worried that he had hallucinated the voice of his best friend. “Er, hi. You’ve been gone for a jaunt.”

“Visiting Rose. Haven’t seen her in awhile.” Scorpius’ lip curled with distaste. He resented how casual Al was, how he leaned against the doorway - Scorpius’ doorway - as if this meant nothing, as if the past two days hadn’t just happened. It wasn’t fair. “Um. I was. Er.”

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. “Spit it out.” He didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but he wasn’t in the mood for shenanigans, and sleep sounded infinitely better than heartache. And his bed was so warm, anyway. Then he shook his head violently, scolding himself for blaming Al for all of this. It wasn’t Al’s fault that this was happening. They went through a weird experience, and they had their own ways of dealing with it. Scorpius’ was sleeping. Al’s was- whatever he was doing. It didn’t make Scorpius feel any better, though.

Scorpius caught the tail end of Al’s sentence. “...if you wanted to get coffee with me?” His head snapped up. Al misinterpreted the silence, though, and continued to stutter on. “I mean, I know you’re much more of a tea drinker but this place has that too, or we can get pastries, we can do whatever you want honestly I don’t mind I’ve just missed you terribly even though it’s only been a few hours technically and-”

“Okay.” 

Al looked dumbfounded. “Okay? All right? Really? For real?” Scorpius struggled to contain a laugh and rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Al. Okay, for real, all right. I’m coming. Let me get a coat though, it’s getting a bit cooler now, don’t you think? And, oh, real clothes, probably.” Scorpius didn’t stir out of bed. Al stared at him from his position in the doorway. “You can, er, go now.”

“Yes! Right. Cool. Bye.” Al accidentally slammed the door shut on his way out. He cracked open the door and called, “Sorry!”

Scorpius couldn’t keep a smile off of his face as he dressed himself. After casting a hasty breath-minting spell, he followed Al out the door.

Al was decked out in full winter apparel: hat, scarf, coat and all. Scorpius bit back a laugh at his all-matching attire. He wasn’t sure if it was intentional, but he made sure to jibe Al for it anyway. “Wow. Glad to see you’re still repping Slytherin green, mate.”

“Go Snakes forever!” Al said before hissing and making his fingers into claws. “Wait. Snakes don’t have claws. They have fangs. I’m an idiot.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

They continued to tease each other until Al grabbed hold of his arm and spun Scorpius around to face him. Scorpius stayed silent and looked down at his friend. Al shut his eyes, and Scorpius did too. For a moment, Scorpius swore that Al was going to finally do something about this messy situation. Then Al’s hand was on his arm, clenching hard, and there was a sickening pop as they Disapparated.

Scorpius felt like his heart got Splinched and part was left behind, but he didn’t comment. Al lead the way as they walked down the street towards a well-lit, cheery-looking cafe on the corner. The sign read BLACK CAT JOE.

“I’ve never been here,” Scorpius said. 

“It’s Muggle, but it’s good. The sign is a reference to magic, actually,” Al whispered. “Muggles think that witches have black cats and ride around on broomsticks.”

“They got the broomstick thing right. But why black cats?”

“Black cats are evil, I guess. There’s a superstition that you don’t want one crossing your path.” Al shrugged with one shoulder as he pushed open the door. “It doesn’t make sense to me, either.”

“Well, it does, a little bit,” Scorpius said as the two of them ducked into the coffee shop. A little bell chimed, announcing their entrance. “It’s rather similar to our superstition of the Grim. Black animal crosses your path, boom, bad luck forever. It makes sense that black cats, because of their association with magic, are considered evil to Muggles.”

“Huh. I’ve never thought of it that way,” Al mused. “Mind saving a table? I’ll pay for your drink.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“No, you won't.” Before Scorpius could argue, Al stepped in line. When Scorpius wrinkled his nose, Al stuck out his tongue. 

Obligingly, Scorpius sat down at a little table by the window and stretched out his legs. Idly, Scorpius traced patterns onto the table with his finger.

Less than five minutes later, Al sat down across from him. He slid Scorpius’ drink - passion fruit tea - towards him, and put his hands around his own cup of coffee. Scorpius didn’t quite know what to do, so he continued to babble on about black cats. “You know, I remember reading in a book about Muggle politics that a black cat is a symbol of anarchism.”

Al raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“Black has always been associated with anarchism. Not sure why though. Anyway, black dogs kind of get the same negative treatment that black cats get, which I think is interesting. It’s not to do with bad luck, though, but more that people think that they’re aggressive because that’s what they’ve seen in the media.” Scorpius flapped his hands, feeling as though he was trapped in this conversation. It was like they had no safe topic to discuss outside of Muggle superstition. 

It was weird. They had never had trouble talking to each other before. But now, Al was like a wall, and Scorpius was hurtling towards it the only way he knew how: with grotesque amounts of fun facts about any and everything. 

“I want to make dinner tonight.” Al said in an undertone. Scorpius almost jumped with glee. They were returning to semi-normalcy, thank Merlin. “We can have an Eat-In… Earsday. Oh, fuck. What day begins with E?”

“None of them, Al.” Scorpius tried to look Al in the eyes, but Al ducked his head.

“What do you want tonight?”

“Oh, I don’t know. How about a curry? Thai? No, wait, we had a curry a few days ago. Let me think.” Scorpius drummed his fingers on the table, going through his mental list of his favorite foods. Anything Al made would be good, really. And then he brightened and slapped his hands against his cheeks, making Al startle visibly. “Oh! Can you make the bolognese sauce you made once? It was amazing!”

“The multi-meat sauce?” Scorpius nodded eagerly. “Um, okay. What kind of pasta do you want? I can get shells, bowties, penne, rigatoni-”

“I just had the best idea!” Scorpius shouted, rising out of his seat. That attracted the attention of many fellow patrons, so he sat down again quickly. “Why don’t we go grocery shopping together? It’ll be an adventure.”

Al tilted his head to the side - usually Al took care of all the menial tasks like shopping - but regardless, he said, “Sure! Why not. That sounds fun. And that way, you can get the pasta shape you want.” There was a hint of a chuckle in his voice. 

“Pasta shapes are no laughing matter!” This statement made Al laugh outright. “Some types of pasta are terrible with sauce retention! And some are too difficult to eat. And don’t forget about all the different flavors of pasta. You’ve got regular, but you’ve also got spinach, and carrot, and squid ink…”

“Squid ink? Eugh. That sounds like something you’d put in a potion.” Scorpius discreetly nudged Al. Al clapped a hand over his mouth as if he announced magic was real, instead of making a minor slip of the tongue. 

The two of them ended up giggling hysterically, wiping tears from their eyes, and getting weird looks from the Muggles in the cafe. Scorpius couldn’t stop himself from bouncing in his seat. There was too much to look forward to. Finally, it seemed that he and Al were on the mend. And if that meant that they could never actually date, well. Scorpius was ready to live with that reality.

*

“Scorpius, where the fuck are you now?” Scorpius shushed Al loudly from the next aisle over. Al appeared moments later, guiding the massive grocery cart.

“Albus Severus! There are children here, honestly!” Al ignored him and came to a screeching halt in front of the tomato sauce. Scorpius picked up a can of tomato puree. “Is this something you need? I don’t even know what this means.”

“No.” Al gently plucked it from Scorpius’ hands and put it back on the shelf. 

Usually Al did all the grocery shopping, since Scorpius was off at work. Now they were together, and Scorpius was realizing how little he understood Muggle grocery shops. When he was younger, the house-elves of the Manor had done all the procuring of goods. Now that Scorpius thought about it, he had no idea how elves acquired food. 

“Hey, Albus.”

Albus had his back to Scorpius. He was examining pasta sauces of various types. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“How do wizards get food, anyway?” Albus turned around abruptly. He gestured towards the Muggles around them. Scorpius made a small sound in the back of his throat. “Er, sorry. Bad timing. Haha, wizards aren’t real.”

“Scorpius,” Albus hissed, but he was laughing. He decided on the sauce and put it in the cart. “We just need garlic and ice cream now. Oh, and the pasta shape. You can go grab that right now. I’ll get the garlic and the ice cream. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Scorpius directed the cart a few steps forward and then went through the task of deciding on a pasta. There were more options than he expected. He weighed the merits of each shape and flavor seriously.

Al returned and dumped garlic and Scorpius’ favorite flavor of ice cream (mint chocolate chip, obviously) into the shopping cart. Scorpius was clutching a bag of spinach tagliatelle pasta. Al made a face. “Spinach?”

Scorpius sighed, expecting this reaction. He moved to put the pasta back. “We can get plain if you-”

Al intercepted him and put the bag in the cart. “Whatever you want, Scorp.”

*

Scorpius heard the wireless going at full volume from all the way upstairs. Cautiously, he creeped down towards the kitchen, wanting to check out what Al was doing. It didn’t sound like any song he recognized.

There, he discovered Al wielding a spoon and singing at it dramatically, swaying his hips and twirling around the room. When he needed to stir a pot or shake a pan, he would incorporate the movement into his seemingly improvised choreography.

Was he listening to… German music? Scorpius listened harder. It definitely was a European language, but he couldn’t figure out which.

“Al?” Al startled violently and threw the spoon across the room. It skidded across the floor. He stood there, frozen in the middle of a dance move, with sauce seeping from the spoon onto the floor. 

“Uh, yeah?” He looked like a kid who had been caught rooting around in a cookie jar.

“What song was that?”

“Er, it was… Italian pop.” Al’s freckles were in sharp contrast with the deep blush on his face. Scorpius wondered why he blushed so hard at mundane things, like dancing, yet kept his cool during other, far more embarrassing shenanigans.

“Was wondering. Couldn’t figure out if it was French or Dutch or something else entirely. Or if I was really exhausted and forgot what English sounded like,” Scorpius said, moving his arms gently from side to side. He looked like a baby giraffe when he danced; he knew this very well. 

“Long day?”

“Long life,” Scorpius joked, moving awkwardly and gracelessly to the music. He flung out his arms and twirled in a circle in the center of the kitchen. Al clapped with false bravado and yelled out encouragements and critiques on his moves.

At the end of the song, Scorpius leaned against the counter. “It’s been okay. Delivering babies is a lot harder than I thought it would be, though. I thought they just popped out, but apparently there’s a lot more to it than it seems. And, no offense to people giving birth everywhere, but I much preferred when I was not so intimately acquainted with their genitals.”

Al grimaced. “Yeah, I see what you mean. Might get a bit uncomfortable.”

“It’s not that it becomes more uncomfortable; really, it becomes easier, and that’s the frightening thing,” Scorpius mused. “Someone could flash me at any moment and I wouldn’t even blink at this point.”

“You’re a much braver soul than I am,” Al said. And then, as if they had been talking about something totally normal, Al continued with, “Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. I need to finish with the sauce and plate everything, but that’s it.” Scorpius bit back the urge to hug Al around the middle fiercely. His life was amazing.

“I’ll set the table.” Scorpius busied himself with the arrangement of napkins, forks, knives, and plates.

Al was stirring the pan of sauce with a new spoon, the other one now in the sink. He was moving his shoulders in time with the music. Scorpius gave in and hugged him from behind. Mumbling into Al’s shoulder, he said, “Thanks for dinner.”

“No problem,” Al hummed. “I can’t believe you wanted spinach tagliatelle, though.”

Scorpius squawked indignantly. Al turned around, shoulders shaking with poorly constrained laughter. “You said I could!”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t make it right!” Al retorted. “Ugh, spinach is your preferred flavor. We’re no longer boyf… uh.” Al got caught on the word. He blanched.

They were treading dangerous waters again. The last time they had been in this situation, Al had ditched for twelve hours and left Scorpius at the Burrow. Scorpius didn’t want that to happen all over again.

Scorpius squared his shoulders. He had to at least try. If it didn’t work out, he could give up on Al and… cry for a month? Oh, whatever. “We’re no longer what, Al?”

There was a moment when the two were frozen. Then, Al shrugged, a little desperation in the movement, his eyes pleading. Scorpius didn’t know what he was pleading for, though. He pushed a little farther, feeling everything that they knew about themselves and their relationship wobble, tilt on its axis. “What aren’t we anymore?”

Al kissed him. 

Whatever they were before shattered. Or maybe it didn’t. Maybe it came together. Maybe the universe was righting itself. His best friend, his first friend from when Scorpius was eleven, was cupping his cheek and kissing him like his life depended on it. Scorpius was falling. The floor beneath him had given way. Scorpius kissed back, mouth open, clutching Al’s shirt between his fingers. 

After a (long, amazing, wonderful, unbelievable, incomprehensible, insane) minute, Al gently pushed Scorpius away, his finger lingering on the blond’s bottom lip. “We’re no longer… just friends, is what I wanted to say. We’re boyfriends. Hopefully.” There was a question in Al’s words. Scorpius had no idea why he was asking; didn’t he see how ferociously Scorpius had kissed him?

“It’s what I want to say, too.” Al pressed their foreheads together.

“That’s good.”

“That’s good,” Al repeated softly, a dazed smile on his lips. Scorpius was certain that he had the same expression. Then, he grimaced. “I suppose we have to thank Lily for all this. She was the catalyst, I suppose.”

“She will take no such credit,” Scorpius declared. “It was all me, kissing you by accident when you were trying to give me my keys.”

“That was adorable.” Scorpius blushed. “You’re adorable. It’s amazing, being able to say it.”

“You can say it as much as you’d like,” Scorpius said. “Merlin knows I won’t stop saying it.”

“Then don’t,” Albus said in a hoarse whisper. He captured Scorpius’ mouth in a kiss once more. Scorpius languished in the mind-numbing euphoria of finally, finally being able to kiss Al the way he wanted to.


End file.
